Writer's Note: Hello! Applied for a job so my releases might change. The new side project is going well but will have random releases as this is my main story and priority for my free time. Sorry for the cliffhanger. Too much going on for one chapter. Haven't left a cliffhanger in a while anyways, and the next chapter will have some surprises. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 19: Green Willow Village

"What is that smell?" Mei said as she wrinkled her nose. "Why did we join this stupid caravan?"

"It will lead us to Green Willow Village, children. It is our first stop and the place where the bandits are rumored to live nearby. So many caravans attacked, but the village remains as it was. Something is happening there. Perhaps a Spirit Guardian resides there," Guan Hai said, the others sighing as they followed a caravan of fifty carriages. Hundreds of guards of the Spirit Forming Stage patrolled around the caravans. To common folk without cultivation, they were a scary sight indeed.

It had only been two hours since they left Gold Lotus City when Guan Hai returned, but the three girls and Lu Jing were fed up with the odors of the camels some merchants rode. They were exotic, but dirty beasts. They all noticed Yang not complaining since they first set off.

"Yang, are you not disturbed by the smell?" Mei asked and they all noticed a glowing pink lotus in his left hand as he rode on Red Death. "What's that flower?"

"Ah, this thing? It is an Illusion Blood Lotus. It's smell is most powerful and is actually quite dangerous. As the person is intoxicated by the smell, they cannot see that the lotus is slowly growing and they are trapped in a pleasant illusion, their body becoming fertilizers for the lotus," Yang grinned. "Of course, poison does not work on me but you are welcome to try for yourself. Would you like a lotus?"

"No. No," Mei said, shaking her head.

"No? Shame," Yang grinned as he used his hands to direct the fragrance to his nose. "I can't even smell those animals. You seven should have been more prepared. Even Guan Hai bought mask to block the scent."

They all turned to see Guan Hai with a gold mask covering his nose and mouth. They could tell it was a magical treasure because he could breathe even though there was no holes in the mask to filter the air. Guan Hai could only smile beneath his mask and the seven others were forced to endure the smell until they arrived atop a hill overlooking a village.

"That, children, is Green Willow Village. It seems the rumors were true. See that willow tree in the heart of the village? Its branches glow green and we can see it from atop this hill. Earth and water spirit energy is strong and dense here.  Sima Qing, you have affinity for water. Guo Lin and Guo Yang, you have affinities for both earth and water. You should be able to notice the dense spirit energy. Close your eyes and feel the spirit energy around you. See where it leads," Guan Hai instructed.

"It leads to the tree," Yang said, the other two nodding in unison. As they closed their eyes, they could feel the spirit energy around them. It was in the air they breathed, the ground they tread upon, and the light that shined on them. A large river could be detected, seen in the distance. The earth and water seemed to gravitate to the tree.

"It is strange. Something is beneath its roots. Something ancient, powerful," Yang said as he opened his eyes. "It is a false Spirit Guardian. It is my belief that the bandits attack the caravans for more than their riches. They need blood, preferably a corpse."

"Is it stronger than my manticore?" Lin said, eager to summon his magical beast. Those bound to magical beasts could hide them away in their Spirit Realm, both protecting them and strengthening them. Mei's owl was an owl ten feet tall. It could no longer ride on her shoulders or live in her parent's backyard.

"It must be. I don't care for the artifact. I only desire the branches. The whole village is aligned with the bandits. The village is a facade. It is how they learn of the caravan routes," Yang said. "I say we kill them all. I only sense those of the Spirit Forming Stage there. Only their numbers is a problem. I can poison the river, kill many before we strike as well as weaken the tree and the secret within its roots."

"We cannot do that! There are women, and children, there," Sima Qing said as the caravan passed ahead of them.

"And what do you suggest we do? Allow the bandits to keep killing others? They know the crimes of their husbands and fathers. The condone it and thrive because of it. Do not they think they are innocent! In this world, even children are reduced to thievery and murder," Yang snapped.

"Yang," Lin said as he stepped between them.

"Fools," Yang said and spat on the ground. "I'm going to poison the river. I will see them dead and their treasures, mine. Stay here if you cannot do it. Your soft-heart idiocy will only get in the way. Sun Yi, I leave it to you to make a ring of fire to entrap the village. You too, Lu Jing."

"I'm not going to do it," Lu Jing said, but Yang grabbed him by the throat and lifted him in the air.

"I wasn't asking you. I was ordering you. The very reason you are here, and trained under a retired Imperial Guard Captain at the Earth Mortal tier, was because of me. You owe me your future. We both know it. Go now, before I really get pissed off," Yang growled and threw Jing on the ground. "You are not killing them, I am. You're only enclosing them. This is an obstacle you must face in life. A practitioner is not without enemies. The longer you go without your first kill, the more your mind will break later on, when it matters. Bandits are scum, wanted dead or alive. No will care if they die. No one. If you cannot kill a bandit, how can you kill a practitioner who threatens the people you love? We live in the Mortal Realm. We are bound to die through the passage of time, our lifespan extended through cultivation. In the end, you are alone. You were always alone. It is only when you walk the path of cultivation, will you truly realize the depths of my words."

"You speak with words beyond your years. You are right though. No one can help you on the path of cultivation. Others can only guide you," Guan Hai nodded. "Do not worry about the bandits currently outside the village. I will punish them as it is my duty."

"Then this will be easy," Yang said and directed Red Shadow to the distant river. "I give you two, Sun Yi and Lu Jing, an hour's time to create the ring of fire around the village. The rest of you, disappoint me."

"I will also form the river of fire. It is my duty, as prince, to punish those who break my imperial father's laws," Shen Dong said. "I will form the ring of fire from the north."

"Come, Mei. Leave the two girls here," Yang said and Mei immediately joined Yang atop Red Death. "You two, keep being blinded by your generic thoughts. You are not in a palace. This is the world, the real world. You are fools to turn your eyes away from the cold, hard truth."

Yang said no more as Red Death slithered to the river. It took twenty minutes to reach the river and Yang smirked as he saw fire in the distance. He knew Sun Yi would do it, but Lu Jing was still not within his grasp. Yet. Controlling the son meant controlling his father, Lu Jin. Lu Jin was a duke, one of the few in the Pangu Continent. Control over him would make it easier to make Shen Dong assume the throne.

"How do you plan to poison the river? How will it affect the tree?" Mei asked.

"The river runs through the village, beneath the roots of the false Spirit Guardian. If my guess is right, it is a magical beast currently in the midst of laying its eggs. If that is so, there is only one magical beast I know that survived in this area, before I died. It was known as a River Lion Turtle. With the head of a stone lion and the body, gills of a fish on its neck, and the body and shell of a turtle. It is amphibious but dies if its gills dry up," Yang grinned.

"I never heard of such a magical beast," Mei said.

"Of course not. Lion turtle magical beasts have difficulty reproducing and live in solitude, nerve to be found by the eyes of another creature. This one was drawn to the spirit energy in the land. Most likely, it is the ancient, powerful object I detected earlier. The tree is a facade made by its shell. Such creatures are what gave rise to the legends of moving islands. This one is weak. Probably at the Element Adept Stage. It explains why it is so....small and with a lone tree," Yang said and took out a large vial with a volatile purple and black liquid within.

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"What is that? It's like it is alive," Mei gasped.

"It is alive. It grows in the roots of a Black Eel Grass. Black Eel Grass nurtures poisonous herbs and enriches the soil, protecting it from the poison. It will seek living cells, like a parasite. It will poison the river, spreading to taint all who partake of it. It will appear invisible, a predator hiding in camouflage. All who partake of the water will be poisoned, slowly drained of spirit energy and then their very life," Yang grinned as he released the liquid into the river.

"Such a deadly poison!" Mei gasped.

"No. It takes too long to die from it. It is also easy to cure. However, most people notice it too late before they make a cure," Yang said. "The weaker you are, the faster it kills. It will only weaken the River Lion Turtle. In a half hour, we strike upon the first cries of woe. We will enter through the river. My snake is immune to such weak poison."

"Right," Mei nodded as she took out her sword while Yang brandished his spear.

"I must have the tree branches. Those of the Meteor Vessel tier are able to wield middle ranked immortal treasures. I'll need the branches for my spear's shaft," Yang grinned.

"So that's why you didn't care. What about the eggs?" Mei asked.

"It is easy for me to neutralize the poison. We can sell the eggs or have it bind to one of us. A practitioner can have a maximum of three magical beasts, but having three chosen too soon is bad," Yang said.

"Will you ever bind a magical beast?" Mei asked as she saw the black and purple poison disappear ahead.

"I can only plan the future. I cannot see nor foresee it. Everything we do is a variable. Every person we kill could have been part of a infinitely many alternatives in the future. We can only predict and plan," Yang said, eyes narrowing. "As I suspected, the whole village is that of bandits. Can you not feel the spirit energy? People are dying. Those guards are dying. Probably poisoned. The people are too weak to kill them so quickly."

"I...I can sense it. It's like a cold vice is taking hold of me. The spirit energy in their bodies.....it's like they're crying," Mei shivered. "What is this?"

"This is what you should have felt, but the Eye of Darkness blinded you from this feeling. It did not allow you to use your spiritual senses. When a life form dies, the spirit energy dies with it. It is blasphemous to the Heavens. The Heavens locked the Elemental Sovereigns in the Divine Realm to protect life. Yet, we take life to ascend to the Immortal Realm. This is what I read in that book grandfather gave me," Yang answered and laughed. "Heh. How ironic is that? We are our own worst enemy after all."

"I sense many humans dying now. I am ready to depart, master," Red Death hissed, Yang nodding and jumping on Red Death as it slithered and floated on the river.

"Let's go. You can collect souls and I can get my dues," Yang grinned, Mei nodding as she landed on the snake.

The snake hissed as it floated down the river, Mei gasping as she saw the black and purple liquid avoiding Red Death as it appeared to poison the snake. Mei narrowed her eyes as she saw bodies up ahead, recognizing the silver and red armor of the caravan guards sprawled all over the floor. Her heart ached as she saw women and children clawing at their throats, gasping for breath.

However, she had killed before and decided it was a mercy to kill them. Yang smiled as he watched her kill them and take their souls. She had been molded well. Sun Yi was the first, his and his clan's thirst for vengeance was very easy to manipulate and take advantage from. Guo Mei was his second, slowly influencing her while she fought the Eye of Darkness for control.

He grinned as he saw men stare at him in horror, sensing the poison within them due to the neidan in his Spirit Realm. He brandished his Moon Lotus Spear and charged at them. Red Death sprang out further down the river, men shrieking as its poisonous fangs skewered them before it spat them to move on to the next human. Yang used his Snake Specter Art, teleporting between the men and women as he pierced their throats.

He would smash their knees before beheading them with the spear head. He would laugh as their blood sprayed on him, the threat of death making him feel alive. They tried to outnumber him, but the poison weakened them. He was also someone at the late Elemental Adept Stage. They were all easy for him to kill regardless. His eyes slightly widened as he saw Shen Dong, watching him kill mercilessly.

"It would seem I underestimated how much he adored his father. This complicates things," Yang muttered. He planned to have the emperor assassinated, but Shen Dong would know it was him and get revenge. He would have to plan to make rifts between the two eldest princes and the emperor.

"You entered the city?" Yang asked as Shen Dong walked to him, covered in blood.

"I had to kill the bandits," Shen Dong said. "We going to the tree?"

"Yeah in a minu--" Yang began as he heard a scream, seeing Mei fly through a door. He turned around and saw a green glowing branch retract in the distance. "Fuck. The River Lion Turtle still has some strength. You use your lightning element arts and target the river. I need to slowly make walls of earth to blackade the river from going under the tree."

"Get up!" Yang said as he helped Mei to her feet. I need you to heal yourself with the light attribute practitioner arts and then head to the roof a good distance away. I need you to count how many branches the tree has. They are the main offensive of the River Lion Turtle."

"I'll try," Mei said, a small stream of blood going down her mouth. "My ribs are bruised, but I should be fine."

Yang nodded and yelled, "Red Death, protect Shen Dong as he blasts lightning into the river. Secrete your poison into it too!"

"Yes, master," Red Death hissed and went into the direction Shen Dong disappeared to.

Yang walked to the river and breathed deeply. He focused his spirit energy into his left foot and slammed into into the ground, using his Rock Pulse Wave Art. The ground shook and the river slowly began to clog as the ground and dirt fell into the river.

With enough ground to form a small pile, Yang used his spear to break down the doors in the nearby houses and began stabbing them into the river. After a few minutes, the river was blockaded by three walls of doors secured by the large mound of dirt clogging the river. He repeated the process on the other side of town. He could hear screaming and wailing outside the village, knowing it was Gun Hai killing the bandits.

After he looted the dead bodies of the villagers, merchants, and caravan guards; he ran toward the center of the village. He noticed the tree grow larger and saw Mei panting as he saw her up ahead.

"Yang!" she cried. "I spotted eighteen branches. The way they move is unpredictable, never stabbing in a straight line. The branches would glow slightly brighter before it changes direction. The branches also avoid each other by three feet, not able to entangle upon each other. Red Death has lost some of its scales and I noticed a shell beneath the tree. I think you are right about it being a River Stone Lion."

"Eighteen branches and strong enough to break Red Death's scales. Must be at the peak Element Adept Stage," Yang cursed. "Ancient magical beasts are stronger than humans at the same cultivation. It's strength equates to an initial Meteor Vessel practitioner. Get those two cowardly girls to provide backup. Tell them that if they don't come, I'll leave Shen Dong for dead."

"Right!" Mei nodded as she summoned her owl. The owl cocked its head to the side before she got on its back and flew into the sky.